JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
Super Friends Chronology
» SEE: Super Friends
By E. Nelson Bridwell and Ramona Fradon (penciller, #3-44, 46)
| Sequence of Events | Issue (Date) |
|---|---|
| The Junior Super Friends—Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog—meet the JLA at the Hall of Justice. First comic book appearance of the Super Friends (Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman). Guest stars: The Flash, Atom, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Hawkman, Red Tornado, and the Elongated Man; statues of Martian Manhunter, Snapper Carr, Plastic Man, Metamorpho, Sargon the Sorcerer, Zatanna, Supergirl, Batgirl, Mera, and Hawkgirl. | Limited Collectors' Edition C-41 (Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976) |
| Part 1: Robin accompanies Wendy and Marvin to the Hall of Justice. The Hall was "established for training young people who want to make crimefighting their career!" The Super Foes: Penguin, Toyman, Poison Ivy, Cheetah and the Human Flying Fish take on wards of their own (Chick, Toyboy, Honeysuckle, Kitten & Sardine). Chick and Kitten reform when they see the promise held in the Hall of Justice for good-doers. NOTES: It's made very clear that the Super Friends are sort of a volunteer organization, but that the heroes who participate are still JLA members, too. It is also made clear that Robin is not a JLAer. Bridwell also tells Wendy and Marvin's origins in the letter column of this issue . The Human Flying Fish only had one previous appearance: Adventure #272 | Super Friends #1 (Nov. 1976) |
| Part 2: The Super Foes invade the Hall of Justice with Chick's help. When Wonder Dog teleports to the JLA satellite, Flash calls the Super Friends. Krypto translates Wonder's message. On Paradise Island, Queen Hippolyte sees a vision wherein Wendy and Marvin are the only ones who can save the Earth. | Super Friends #2 (Dec. 1976) |
| Doctor Ihdrom disintegrates a group of villains (Spectrum, Anti-Man, Thunderhead, Powerhouse, the Traveler, the Apparition, Turncoat, Ultra-Light, Firelord, Sub-Zero, and Bombshell) them all and re-forms their atoms into one evil being—the World-Beater. Guest stars: Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, the Flash, the Atom, Black Canary, and the Elongated Man; cameo by Queen Hippolyte. NOTE: In the letter column, the editor explains why those five heroes were chosen for the Super Friends: they'd all trained for heroing since childhood. | Super Friends #3 (Feb. 1977) |
| Versus the Riddler and Skyrocket. Guest stars: Zatanna, Mister Miracle, Batwoman, Carlo di Rienzi (the Secret Six), and more. NOTES: In the letter column a reader comments how well E. Nelson Bridwell adheres to other DC continuity. The editor says nothing to deny that suggest that Super Friends is outside regular continuity. | Super Friends #4 (Apr. 1977) |
| Versus Greenback. Bruce Wayne makes a charitable donation to a Super Friends telethon. One of his motivations? A heft donation from a business competitor Anthony Stark. NOTES: Wendy and Marvin demonstrate full knowledge of the Super Friends' secret identities. The editor hints at the imminent debut of the Wonder Twins. | Super Friends #5 (June 1977) |
| Versus the Menagerie Man. Wendy and Marvin pass a test set by the Super Friends to solve a real case and thus, they "graduate." and are offered a chance to work with the JLA. Guest star: The Atom; origin retold. NOTE: Robin mentions the band Great Frog (with Speedy and Mal Duncan). | Super Friends #6 (Aug. 1977) |
| Part 1: 1st app. of the new Junior Super Friends—Zan, Jayna (the Wonder Twins) and Gleek, runaways from planet Exor. Wendy and Marvin discover their crashed ship and speak to them in Interlac. The Wonder Twins warn of bombs planted on Earth by Grax. Wendy and Marvin suggest that the whole JLA work with local heroes to find all the bombs. 1st apps. of international heroes Godiva, Impala, Owlwoman & Seraph. Guest stars: Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Flash, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and the Elongated Man; behind-the-scenes are Black Canary, the Atom, and Red Tornado. NOTES: Robin is said to be busy in Teen Titans #50-52 and the JLA in #147-148. Grax first appeared in Action #342 & #417. | Super Friends #7 (Sept. 1977) |
| Part 2: 1st apps. of Bushmaster, Jack O'Lantern, Rising Sun, Tuatara & Thunderlord.Guest stars: The Flash, the Atom, the Elongated Man, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Green Arrow. NOTE: Red Tornado refers to events in Justice League of America #146; and Black Canary mentions the Justice League's recent mission in the 30th century (Justice League of America #147-148). | Super Friends #8 (Oct. 1977) |
| Part 3: 1st apps. of Icemaiden, Little Mermaid, Olympian & Tasmanian Devil versus Grax and Colonel Conquest. Wendy and Marvin are awarded super-hero status and officially graduate. They choose not to be heroes, but attend college. Zan and Jayna take their places to learn "Super Hero Academy." NOTE: Zan and Jayna's creation is credited to Norm Maurer who worked on the cartoon. Guest stars: Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and the Flash. | Super Friends #9 (Dec. 1977) |
| Versus Char Ymat. First appearance of the "Justice League" of another world: Green Lantern, Superior Man, Fangclaw, Stretch Man, Subsea Man, Batman, and Batwoman. Professor Carter Nichols (first app. Batman #24, 1944) becomes the guardian of Zan and Jayna. | Super Friends #10 (Feb./Mar. 1978) |
| Villains also include Overlord, Underling, and Kingslayer. Guest stars: Solovar and others. | Super Friends #11 (Apr./May 1978) |
| With TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite (first app. in World's Finest #5), whose powers go out of control. Dyna-Mite is brought to Atlantis, T.N.T. to Kandor. First comic book appearance of Doctor Mist (a minor character from H. Rider Haggard's novel Wisdom's Daughter). NOTE: The origin of T.N.T. and Dyna-Mite is retold; they are established as World War II heroes on Earth-One. | Super Friends #12 |
| Doctor Mist calls the Super Friends to defeat the Mindless Immortal. NOTES: The Immortal was inspired by the She novels of H. Rider Haggard. Mist states that he is approximately 11,000 years old, and has dwelt in exile for nearly 9,000 years. | Super Friends #13 (Sept. 1978) |
| Part 1: Versus the Elementals—Gnome (Grant Arden), the Undine (Crystal Marr), the Sylph (Jeannine Gale), the Salamander (Ginger O'Shea)--created and controlled by the Overlord (Sandro Fane). Origin of Zan and Jayna, orphans with a rare shape shifting ability on Exor. They escaped. NOTES: Batman's appearance is noted to be concurrent with Detective #476. The letter column gives the history of the aristocrats in this story: Queen Astrid from Secret Six #5; Prince Ali from Lois Lane #58; Solovar from Flash #106; Princess Evalina in Batman Family #5; Prince Mark from Adventure #303; and Vulko, made King of Atlantis in Adventure #448. | Super Friends #14 (Nov. 1978) |
| Part 2: The Elementals help defeat the Overlord. After, his henchman Underling assumes the role of Overlord. The Elementals don new costumes. | Super Friends #15 (Dec. 1978) |
| Versus the aliens called the Cvag. | Super Friends #16 (Jan. 1979) |
| Part 1: The Time Trapper (first app. Adventure #317) uses Professor Cartern Nicols' time machine to send Jayna to Krypton's doomsday; ; there they meet Lyla Ler-Rol. Zan is sent to the future on Neryla-IV. Guest star: Queen Hippolyte. NOTE: There is a mention of Mon-El's meeting with Jor-El (Superboy #89). Julius Schwartz becomes the new editor. ; Wonder Woman also recognizes him as the Time Master, a foe from Wonder Woman #101). | Super Friends #17 (Feb. 1979) |
| Part 2: Still fighting the Time Trapper, Superman and Aquaman travel to Atlantis in 59,600 BC, approximately fifty thousand years before it is destined to sink. Wonder Woman and Robin travel to Madrigal, Spain in October 1469, where they aid Princess Isabella of Castile. Batman, Zan, and Jayna travel to Michigan in 1860, where they meet a young Tom Edison. Guest star: Tuatara. | Super Friends #18 (Mar. 1979) |
| The Menagerie Man captures Gleek. | Super Friends #19 (Apr. 1979) |
| Versus Fritz Frazzle. Guest star: Merlin the Magician. | Super Friends #20 (May 1979) |
| The Super Fiends of Exor, Yeltu and Fegla, masquerade as heroes. Yeltu becomes "Superiorman," "Waterman," and "Capeman." Fegla becomes "Wonderous Woman," "Birdwoman," and "Capewoman." After the Super Friends' help, Illik and the High Counselor of Exor free Zan and Jayna from their guardian, Dentwil, and they return to Earth. | Super Friends #21 (June 1979) |
| Versus Chronos and the Matador Mob. | Super Friends #22 (July 1979) |
| Versus Mirror Master. Zan and Jayna attend Gotham Central High, posing as exchange students, John and Joanna Fleming. Guest star: Flash. | Super Friends #23 (Aug. 1979) |
| The Super Friends discover an ancient pyramid housing Exorians Zond and Zhandra, fugitives frozen in time for 12,000 years. The pair resemble the Wonder Twins; they share ancestors. The fugitives are returned to Exor for justice. | Super Friends #24 (Sept. 1979) |
| Versus the Overlord II. First app. of Fúria Verde, a.k.a. the Green Fury, of Brazil. Guest stars: Nubia the Wonder Woman of Africa (first app. Wonder Woman #204), the Tasmanian Devil, the Seraph, Green Lantern, Mera, and Aqualad. | Super Friends #25 (Oct. 1979) |
| Versus Johnny Witts and his gang (previously in Detective #344 and Batman #201). Guest stars: Wendy and Marvin. | Super Friends #26 (Nov. 1979) |
| Versus aliens who seek to steal Poseidonis. Guest stars: Mera and Aqualad. NOTE: I own a piece of original comic art from this issue. | Super Friends #27 (Dec. 1979) |
| Felix Faust invades a Halloween party and transforms people into the characters whose costumes they wear, such as: Etrigan, Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, and more. Guest star: Jimmy Olsen. | Super Friends #28 (Jan. 1980) |
| Versus the armies of Commander Trovaik. Zan and Jayna cover their secret identities at school by explaining their accent is Swedish, they come from a town called Eksjö (Exor), and their real first names are Johan and Johanna. | Super Friends #29 (Feb. 1980) |
| Professor Nichols is transformed into a gorilla by Grodd and his cohort, Giganta (who'd escaped from the Amazons' Reform Island). Guest stars: Solovar. NOTE: This is Giganta's first Earth-One appearance; she'd last appeared in Wonder Woman #168 (1967). | Super Friends #30 (Mar. 1980) |
| Lisa Patrick, a Black Orchid imposter (previously in Phantom Stranger #39-41), concludes that Black Orchid must be a Kryptonian, but learns she is mistaken. Black Orchid reveals to Superman that she is from Earth. Guest star: The real Black Orchid (first app. in Adventure #428). | Super Friends #31 (Apr 1980) |
| Versus the Scarecrow. | Super Friends #32 (May 1980) |
| Jayna becomes the prisoners of the Menagerie Man. She escapes with the help of Hawkman's feathered freind, Big Red. Guest star: Hawkman. | Super Friends #33 (June 1980) |
| Versus a creature from the planet Oram, a world destroyed a million years ago. Also, the Wonder Twins vs. the racketeer Anse Lyon. | Super Friends #34 (July 1980) |
| Versus circus robbers, the Barkis Gang. | Super Friends #35 (Aug. 1980) |
| In Chief Barner's office, Plastic Man and Woozy Winks are on the trail of Warhead. Plas leaves Woozy behind, and goes undercover in Gotham City as Eel O'Brian. With Batman supposedly out of town, Plas meets Robin instead. As O'Brian, he also meets Matches Malone (Batman), but each of them knows the others' secret identity. The Wonder Twins meet an astral alien who explores new worlds by inhabiting others. NOTES: A henchman remarks that the Titans have disbanded. | Super Friends #36 (Sept. 1980) |
| Versus Weather Wizard. Jack O'Lantern (Daniel Cormac) vs. Balor the giant. His origin is told. Guest stars: Supergirl. NOTES: Photos of the Flash, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Jack O'Lantern, and more. | Super Friends #37 (Oct. 1980) |
| Versus Grax. Backup story: Seraph. | Super Friends #38 (Nov. 1980) |
| The Overlord clones a "son," Futurio. Backup story: The Wondertwins double date at the nightclub, Jabberwock. | Super Friends #39 (Dec.80) |
| Versus the Monocle. Backup: Jack O'Lantern. | Super Friends #40 (Jan. 1981) |
| Versus the Toyman. Backup: The Seraph. | Super Friends #41 (Feb. 1981) |
| Versus Green Thumb. Guest star: Green Fury (Beatriz da Costa). Backup: The Wonder Twins help Prof. Nichols play Santa Claus. | Super Friends #42 (Mar. 1981) |
| Overlord II and Futurio-XX (first app.). Guest star: Green Fury. Story two/Plastic Man. | Super Friends #43 (Apr. 1981) |
| Versus Yarq of Exor. Guest star: Green Fury. Backup story: Jack O'Lantern; an Irish banshee appears. | Super Friends #44 (May 1981) |
| Part 1: The Conqueror manipulates Hector Hammond, Kanjar Ro, Queen Bee, Sinestro, Time Trapper, and the World-Beater. 1st app. of Wild Hunstman of West Germany. Guest stars: Doctor Mist, Bushmaster, Godiva, the Rising Sun, the Olympian, and the Little Mermaid. Backup: Plastic Man. | Super Friends #45 (June 1981) |
| Part 2: Doctor Mist enlists Olympian and Wild Hunstman to free the World Beater, Time Trapper, Hector Hammond and Sinestro from the Conqueror. In German, the Wild Huntsman is called Wild Jäger, his horse is Orkan (Hurricane) and his hound is Donnerschlag (Thunderclap). Backup: Seraph vs. Flavius Silva, a 1900 year old ghost. Guest stars: Doctor Mist, the Wild Huntsman, Bushmaster, Godiva, the Rising Sun, the Olympian, and the Little Mermaid. | Super Friends #46 (July 1981) |
| Green Fury demonstrates her "dazzle power," which shoots illusion-casting sparks from her eyes; origin told. The Wonder Twins celebrate their birthday. NOTE: Final issue. | Super Friends #47 (Aug. 1981) |